Russian opposition leader Navalny detained, hurt in Moscow

Sat., Aug. 25, 2018, 10:06 a.m.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, center, gestures as he speaks using a loudspeaker at a demonstration against President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Pushkin Square in Moscow, Russia. Navalny was detained Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 outside his home in Moscow ahead of planned nationwide anti-government protest rallies, and his spokeswoman said he was later taken to a hospital with a suspected broken finger. (Dmitry Serebryakov / AP)

MOSCOW, Russia – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained Saturday outside his home in Moscow ahead of planned nationwide anti-government protest rallies, and his spokeswoman said he was later taken to a hospital with a suspected broken finger.

Navalny was detained Saturday afternoon and taken to a nearby police station due to an unsanctioned rally in January, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said.

Moscow police were not immediately available for comment Saturday on the detention or on Navalny’s reported injury.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most formidable political foe, has called for nationwide rallies in early September to protest the Russian government’s plans to raise the retirement ages for both men and women. The issue has outraged and united a wide range of Russians from different political backgrounds.

Navalny, who rose to prominence thanks to his investigations into official corruption, on Friday published an investigation alleging that at least $29 million had been stolen in procurement contracts for Russia’s National Guard, which is headed by Putin’s former bodyguard, Viktor Zolotov.

You have been successfully subscribed!

Top stories in World

Hours after announcing the discovery of an Argentine submarine lost deep in the Atlantic a year ago with 44 crew members aboard, the government said Saturday that it is unable to recover the vessel, drawing anger from missing sailors’ relatives who demanded that it be raised.